Gay Activists Scaring Florida's Seniors
- by: John Stemberger 04/11/08
Florida "Red and Blue" Launches its Campaign of Fraud and Deception
Florida Red and Blue, a stealth homosexual-rights activist group, formally announced their campaign against Amendment 2, the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment. Their website and materials are filled with fraudulent legal claims and misinformation which tries to scare senior citizens while refusing to say a single word about so-called "gay marriage."
Florida Red and Blue's (FRB) primary message is the particularly wild claim that the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment will hurt senior citizens and "all other unmarried persons" by "denying them benefits." Among other misleading arguments, they specifically make the outright fraudulent legal claim that passage of the marriage amendment will result in unmarried seniors with deceased spouses who live together loosing one of their social security benefits. [1] The reality is there is no legal connection whatsoever between a state constitution and federal social security law-- and our opponents know this. Shame on Red and Blue for using this raw scare tactic targeting Florida's seniors! They are trying to deceive Florida's most vulnerable and precious citizens. This is the same pathetic strategy they used in Arizona to defeat the first state marriage amendment in history by a slim margin. But this time Florida's seniors will not be fooled.
The reality is that a YES vote on Amendment 2 will do one thing and one thing alone. It defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman as the best arrangement for protecting children. It does not prohibit the government from extending benefits to any persons.
Red and Blue claims to be a "bi-partisan committee" made up of both Republicans and Democrats. Our research reveals, however, that their Board is almost exclusively comprised of left leaning liberal activists and homosexual rights groups - and they are heavily funded by outside organizations coming into Florida. The true bi-partisan coalition is the three quarters of a million Florida voters who have signed the marriage petition and support the common sense idea that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. In our survey of the petitions signed, we found that 49.2 % were republicans, 35.1 % were democrats and 15.7% were comprised of independents and other parties. That is a true bi-partisan coalition.
The so-called "Red and Blue" group ought to be called "Florida Black and Blue" because of how badly they have bludgeoned the truth about the purpose and effect of the amendment. After debating their leaders [2], there is no question in my mind that they are running a campaign of deception and misleading information. Who would have thought that homosexual activists would turn their back on their own people and run away from defending so called "gay marriage"?
29 other states have defined marriage between one man and one woman by passing state constitutional amendments, and many with overwhelming majorities. FRB knows that if they discuss marriage they will loose-- so they have to create a false diversion issue. So far, the news media has not called them on these fraudulent claims and therefore FRB has been given a hall-pass to mislead Floridians. All the more reason for marriage amendment supporters to sound the alarm and tell the truth about why Florida should VOTE YES, on Amendment 2, November 4, 2008.
[1] FRB Lawyer and spokesperson Jeffrey Peters recently stated "For instance, it penalizes senior citizens who may have lost their first spouse," explained Peters. "They find that if they do get remarried, they lose a significant amount of the benefits". http://media.www.fsunews.com/media/storage/paper920/news/2008/04/10/News/Students.Welcome.To.Ffafc.Fundraiser-3313712.shtml
[2] See the video of the most recent TV debate with Nadine Smith of the sister opposition group "Fairness for All Families" at http://www.local6.com/flashpoint/15731879/detail.html